With J Hutcherson -- So about that game in Denmark yesterday.... Look, I'm hardly the type to try to turn a disappointment into a suggestion of something better. The version of the United States on display against Denmark, and to a lesser extend Slovakia, ended up representative of the same old problems.
The good thing for US fans is that those problems are minimized when first-choice is on the field. Sure, it would be nice to think that there are multiple versions of the US Eleven that could compete, but that's not what World soccer is about.
Depth is a benefit, not the point. Remembering that isn't just limited to disappointed fans. The US needs to take advantage of any and every opportunity to play competitive games, but there were enough excuses for all involved to cast a shadow over this particular trip.
A good showing in any US National Team game should carry with it future opportunities. US coach Bob Bradley has made that clear. At the same time, a bad night in Aarhus shouldn't be the extent of an opportunity for any player.
The problem with rating players game-by-game, a past-time of many who cover the sport and need an easy article, is that it treats every game with a weight it might not deserve.
Getting caught out of position when you're already playing out of your normal position alongside a group lacking experience playing together? That's a unique situation only likely to be repeated in a friendly setting. It has to count significantly less than what a player has shown in competitive games. That's not a blanket defense for poor performances. However, it is at least a start at getting meaning from games on the schedule.
I've never been one to dismiss friendlies out of hand. Prestige, mundane, or otherwise, there are only so many opportunities to play National Team soccer. Even in 2009, the year of the crowded US schedule, few players are going to pick and choose when he makes his performance count. The friendlies and the camps that go with them are what get players meaningful opportunities. No one in a National Team shirt forgets that.
Where we are post Slovakia and Denmark is trying to find players who can fill in at left back and center back along with a cutting attack. The defense was already being reworked prior to the Oguchi Onyewu injury. The number of strike partnerships was already larger than any coach would like. The real win would have been an answer to any of those positional issues. Given the setting, that was probably always going to be asking too much.
Comments, questions, solutions to problems that have yet to present themselves. Please, tell me all about it.
